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T O P I C R E V I E W

Robert Pearlman

RIA Novosti, citing the TsSKB-Progress State Research and Production Space Center, reports that Alexander Soldatenkov, who led the design of Russia's carrier rockets, has died at the age of 86.

Soldatenkov, who led the preparation of Yury Gagarin’s first human space flight, became chief designer of R-7 carrier rockets at TsSKB-Progress in 1979.

In 1996-2006, he worked at the center as chief designer of R-7A and Soyuz-2 rockets.

...Soyuz-2 is a three-stage carrier rocket for placing payloads into low Earth orbit. The Soyuz-2 launches are carried out from the Baikonur space center and the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia.